Crawl of Fame

Book excerpt: The courageous and transformative story of triathlon hall-of-fame athlete Julie Moss. In 1982, Julie Moss ran the Ironman triathlon for her college senior research project. Her idea was quirky, even crazy: a 140.6-mile combination of swimming, cycling, and running. Julie brought no triathlon experience, but she did bring a latent willpower that, the world soon found out, wouldn’t be denied. What happened next changed Ironman forever . . . After becoming the unlikely leader during the final leg, Julie fell and lost all bodily function fifteen meters (50 feet) from the finish. While on hands and knees, she watched her rival pass her. Thirty seconds later, she crawled across the line—stunning the millions who were watching on television. At age twenty-three, Julie became the instant global icon. That this young co-ed would represent such a new sport was unlikely. That she would inspire millions in the three decades years since was unthinkable. Yet, it happened. And keeps happening. In 2017 Julie won her age group in the Ironman North American Championships—racing 25 minutes faster than her 1982 Ironman. How does a 58-year-old woman beat the time of her 23-year-old self? Which begs the question, Could she also beat her 1982 time in the more demanding Kona? The world will find out in October 2018. Crawl of Fame is the long-awaited release of her incredible story. Julie describes how she found her greater purpose while lying across the finish line at Ironman 1982 — and how that greater purpose as a woman, athlete, endurance sports symbol and, now, iconic figure has defined her life and inspired others since.